‘Assassin’s Creed’ Hitting Theaters In 2014?

Sometimes in Hollywood, projects lie dormant for a while, only to suddenly leap forward. Such is the case with the film adaptation of Assassin’s Creed, the highly successful video game franchise from developer/publisher Ubisoft.

About a year ago, Sony Pictures scooped up film rights to the series, working with newly-created Ubisoft Motion Pictures to bring the games to life onscreen. Then, just a few months ago, Michael Fassbender signed on to produce and star in the film. However, the deal with Sony fell apart, leading to a new partnership with New Regency and Twentieth Century Fox that put the project back on the fast track.

Assassin’s Creed has emerged as a top priority for Ubisoft – no doubt due to the first-week sales of 3.5 million the latest entry of the video game earned earlier this year. There’s no better time for the company to capitalize on its success, and a film version is the next natural step to expanding the brand. However, the question remains when moviegoers can expect Fassbender’s adaptation to hit theaters.

Now, in an interview with Games Industry International, Geoffroy Sardin, Ubisoft’s chief sales and marketing officer, has commented on the project’s status. Here’s what he had to say on expanding the Assassin’s Creed franchise:

“Another thing that is very important for the lifecycle is the transmedia offer. All the figurines, the books, the publishing, and we have a movie in the next coming year. So it’s not only about games, we are talking about a global brand, and this is the life cycle management we want to set up now.”

With 2012 all but over at this point, one could easily take “the next coming year” to imply that the Assassin’s Creed would likely not release until 2014 at the earliest. After all, the script has yet to be completed, and then there’s Fassbender’s schedule to consider.

The in-demand star – who turned in a memorable performance in this summer’s Prometheus – is already committed to musician comedy Frank, western Jane Got a Gun, director Steve McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave and Ridley Scott’s The Counselor, all of which are expected to meet 2013 release dates at this point. Of course, let’s not forget that Fassbender is also due to reprise his role as Magneto in Bryan Singer’s hotly anticipated X-men: Days of Future Past, which hits theaters July 18, 2014.

Even if Ubisoft and New Regency were somehow able to get Assassin’s Creed into production in early 2013 (and that’s a big “if”), the schedule of its producer/star would make a 2013 release severely unlikely. Besides, since Assassin’s Creed is Ubisoft Motion Pictures’ first effort to bring one of its properties to the big screen – and such a high profile one at that – the company is better off taking its time and perfecting the project rather than rushing it out to theaters.

Are you looking forward to the Assassin’s Creed movie, Screen Rant readers? Let us know in the comments.

We’ll keep you posted on the development of Assassin’s Creed as it gets closer to production.